What’s a Bonnie? An explainer on the St. Bonaventure Nickname.

Now that both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have qualified for the NCAA Basketball Tournaments, a lot of people have been asking me, “What’s a Bonnie?” As a proud alum living in South Florida, my office is decorated with Bonnie paraphernalia. With everyone filling out their tournament brackets and researching teams, I am the office expert on all things St. Bonaventure.

My only response thus far has been, “I’m a Bonnie.” I’m greeted with a chort and a puzzled stare. But how do I explain? How do I explain that we are one of the smallest D-1 schools in the country. We don’t buy championships with luring the best coaches with multi-million dollar contracts. Our alumni base is so small, we don’t have huge endowments to build state of the art sports facilities. We don’t brand our logo on everything that is possible.

How do I explain that the Brown and White were not colors selected for some glitzy marketing purpose. But rather are the colors that mirror the winter hillsides surrounding us through the majority of the school year? That who we are, where we live, and what we believe come together at St. Bonaventure.

How can I tell someone who graduated from a mega University that we kept our doors unlocked and that Professors knew us by name, not a number. After one day on campus, no one was a stranger. It’s a smile, a commitment to kindness, a feeling. How do I explain that our victories, both in sport and in life, are hollow if not handled with humility?

People want an easy answer. But a Bonnie is not an animal, a tree, or a fruit. How do I explain that it’s the Franciscan values that infect each one of us like an autumn day, that makes a Bonnie. That each of us, combined, embody what it means to be a Bonnie. That we are a school created by its people and held together by our values. We are the community. Each of us, together, create the whole. And what we are together is so great that the love and pride we have is not something we wear on our sleeves. Hell no, together, we wear our heart on a mountain.

It’s an awesome thing to see the spirit of the explanation, you did an awesome job! It is obviously heartfelt. The “Bonnies” was a nickname when people referred to the institution known as St. Bonaventure and it’s people. When it became politically incorrect to use the term “Brown Indian”, St Bonaventure solicited students, administration and alumni to term a new mascot name. I was a freshman at the time – that was in 1985. I recall Steve Horan of the class of 1989 was the last Brown Indian – and no, that sentiment is not solicite the same reaction as, say, watching “The last Mohican” or anything of the sort, but seriously, could we do no better?